This invention concerns the general technical field of agricultural machinery and in particular spreaders. More specifically, it relates to a sprayer including a chassis supporting a main container, a spray boom and an incorporation device, the incorporation device having an active state and an inactive state.
An agricultural sprayer is used to spread on plants, in droplet form, a treatment product. To this end, the sprayer includes various elements that are connected to each other by a water circuit. These elements are a main container containing the spray mixture and spray nozzles designed to distribute the spray mixture on the plants to be treated. Spraying consists of pumping the spray mixture, via the water circuit, from the main container to the nozzles, while at the same time moving the nozzles relative to the plants to be treated. The profitability and yield of a crop is governed by the use of plant protection products.
Before actually spraying, the user must prepare the treatment spray mixture. For obvious storage reasons, the active ingredient of the spray mixture is packaged in concentrated form in a liquid or solid state. Preparing the spray mixture consists of diluting one or several active ingredients, for example plant protection products, in water. To do so and to ensure user safety, the majority of agricultural sprayers include an incorporation device. This can be stationary or mobile relative to the sprayer and should preferably be accessible from the ground. The incorporation device is comprised of a vat into which the user pours the active ingredient. When preparing the spray mixture, the vat is drained, via the water circuit, to the main container.
Some sprayers are fitted with a movable incorporation device that switches from an inactive state to an active state to be used. When preparing the spray mixture, the user brings the incorporation device in its active state to facilitate the pouring of the active ingredient packaged in concentrated form in a liquid or solid state. The incorporation device usually has a parallelogram mechanism that allows it to be retracted by moving it away from the ground or to be brought closer to the ground to make it easier to access. This type of mechanism is expensive and complex. It is known that the incorporation device is used for a very short amount of time compared with the total amount of time the sprayer is used, including filling, spreading and rinsing. When the spray mixture has been prepared, the incorporation device still occupies space on the chassis, even though it is no longer required.